Superbike: Magny-Cours and team orders

Last weekend's Magny-Cours round not only saw the race for the riders' title sensationally reopened, but also brought with it a aftermath of discussions regarding the team orders given by Aprilia and Kawasaki.

The most striking episode occurred at the home of the Noale team: Marco Melandri gave the victory to Sylvain Guintoli in Race 1, only to then deny him the same favor in Race 2, clearly explaining that he is not racing for the French driver, who is capable of winning alone.

However, Loris Baz was also asked to make a similar gesture again in Race-1, although less discussed given that there was no victory at stake but a simple fourth place: the young driver was asked to give up his position to Tom Sykes.
An order that Baz carried out only at the last chicane of the last lap, crossing the finish line behind his team mate, visibly shaking his head.

Many obviously interpreted that gesture as a clear sign of impatience, but after the race Loris Baz himself promptly defended the team from criticism, clarifying his position via his Facebook profile:

“It's completely normal that I did what I did when the team asked me to. I am where I am thanks to Kawasaki: they have done a lot for me in the last three years, so I felt obliged to do it for Kawasaki.”

Loris Baz will leave the Kawasaki Racing Team at the end of the current season to move to MotoGP in the NGM Forward Racing team, which made his appointment official last week.